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What an amazing round two of the NBA playoffs we saw! The talent is very deep which results in some upsets setting up the conference finals that start tonight, so here are my predictions for who will make the NBA finals and some things that stood out from the previous round as well.
What did we learn from Round Two?
The Celtics/Cavs series taught us that it is time for Cleveland to break up the nucleus that is Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley. Clearly all four cannot work together so this offseason would be ideal to decide on the two they want to keep and build around while trading the other two players to build a more complementary team along with firing coach JB Bickerstaff to maximize their window of being in the top half of the east.
New York Knick fans have so much to excited about, proud of, and hopeful for with this team, but head coach Tom Thibodeau and his minutes distribution must change! If there are any title aspirations for the Knicks, Thibodeau must pull back on the extremely heavy minutes load he tends to put on his core players and entrust a little bit more of his bench to make the deep playoff run going forward and not completely wear down his key players.
If Oklahoma City learned anything from losing this series it hopefully, was they need to go get an actual forward that will help on the boards! Especially to help Chet Holmgren who needs that in order to be the weapon he can become; it does not mean moving Holmgren to a stretch four spot although that would not be a bad idea, but OKC hopefully address this issue and add much needed size up front going forward.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander despite the loss firmly placed himself as a top five even top three player in the world with his incredible performance against the Mavs throughout the series which should be promising for the Thunder and their future.
Lastly the Timberwolves defense is certainly championship level and can get them to the finals, but the looming immaturity of Karl-Anthony Towns simply cannot be ignored as it can single handedly derail the run the Wolves are on. On the other hand Denver and their lack of depth was exposed in this series which led to them being eliminated, hopefully this summer they address and fix that problem especially at the backup center where they have to find a service player to fill in for Jokic so he doesn’t break down anytime soon, as well as better perimeter support of the bench in the backcourt if they want this potential dynasty to be legitimate.
Eastern Conference Finals
#1 Boston Celtics vs. #6 Indiana Pacers
After a quick series against the Cavs, Boston is back in the eastern conference finals where they will face a young, energized Pacers team that beat a very tough Knicks team that ran out gas and bodies to play. Personally, there is possibly that Indiana can do the unthinkable and upset the Celtics because Boston I do not fully trust, but I will lean towards common sense and pick the Celtics to win this series in six games, heading to NBA finals for the second time in three years.
Series X-Factor: Jrue Holiday/Kristaps Porzingis
The pivotal player or players in this series will be Jrue Holiday and the potential return of Kristaps Porzingis. Holiday and what he does on offense will determine if this series is short and sweet or goes longer than expected, but the potential return of Porzingis is more important especially when it comes to how Indiana attacks offensively in this series especially if Porzingis is half of what he was for Boston before the injury.
Western Conference Finals
#3 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. #5 Dallas Mavericks
This is easily the headline series of this round from Ant-Man vs. Luka, Kyrie or KAT who will turn the series for good or upside down, and can Minnesota’s giant size stay on the floor in those final minutes of games? A lot of sub plots in this series but will the Luka & Kyrie magic be enough to pass this elite T’Wolves defense? After some back and forth on this while I trust Gobert to be impactful, Edwards to not shy away from the moment, my overwhelming doubt about Karl-Anthony Towns truly maturing as a player is undeniable and is why I am picking the Mavericks to win this series seven games.
Series X-Factor: Karl-Anthony Towns
Like I picked in previous series with Minnesota the x-factor here is without question Karl-Anthony Towns, who I know I am extremely skeptical of but can admit he did some things against Denver that could a good sign of maturity, but this is the biggest stage he has played on with a ton at stake.
So, my concern is strong here especially if he thinks he has to match the punch that Kyrie Irving potentially will have in this matchup which if that happens will absolutely be the thing that derails this incredible run for the Wolves and cost them a trip to the finals.